Virginia (Mercadante)

Virginia has been rarely performed since its premiere, but a recent 2009 recording of the work was released on the Opera Rara label.

[2] After the triumphant success of his 1846 opera Orazi e Curiazi in Naples, Mercadante was invited to tour the Austrian territories of Venice, Triest, and Milan conducting performances of his own works.

[1] Mercadante returned to Naples in March 1848[1] in the aftermath of revolutionary activity in that city, Salerno, and the Cilento region which had forced Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies to grant a constitution patterned on the French Charter of 1830 on January 29, 1848.

[3] Deploring the pattern of events in his country, Mercadante selected Alfieri's Virginia as a means of expressing his criticism of the constitution's suppression.

However, King Ferdinand II got word of the production and issued a ban on the opera's performance, even though Cammarano’s libretto carefully avoided any possible negative political implications.

[3] While members of the deposed Royal House survived, they no longer carried any power, freeing Mercadante to present his opera.

[4] After a 75-year absence, Virginia was revived for its United Kingdom premiere on November 27, 1976 in Whitla Hall at the Queen's University Festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The notable cast included Janet Price as Virginia, Christian du Plessis as Virginio, Bonaventura Bottone as Appio, Maurice Arthur as Icilio, and the Chorus of the Northern Ireland Opera Trust.

Montserrat Caballé began to prepare the title role in 1977 for the anticipated premiere at Carnegie Hall in New York City on 29 March 1978.

[6] Since the 1976 UK production, Virginia was not revived until 2010 when it was mounted by the Wexford Festival Opera with soprano Angela Meade in the title role.

Thwarted, Appio plots to get Virginia through legal trickery, claiming that she is not Virginio's daughter but in fact a slave belonging to his associate Marco.